Here are some facts about cyber crime that should make you think:

• Information theft, loss, or attack is now the prevalent type of crime against organizations.

• According to AV Test 137.5 million new malware samples were identified in 2018.

• A 2019 Webroot Threat report found that about 93% of malware observed in 2018 was polymorphic, meaning it has the ability to constantly change its code to evade detection.

• The same Webroot report found that over 50% of devices that got infected once were re-infected within the same year.

• According to an RSA report over 60% of online fraud is accomplished through phones and tablets.

• The UK’s National Crime Agency says that cyber crime now accounts for more than 50% of all crimes in the UK.

These facts illustrate just how large, and growing, the cyber crime threat really is. One reason for the explosion in cyber crime is simply that it pays. Criminals know that there is little prospect of them getting caught or prosecuted and the financial rewards can be huge.

But there are other reasons why so much cyber crime occurs and one of those is because it is so easy to do. Let me prove that to you with a simple example.
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In March 2019 Mozilla, publishers of the Firefox browser, launched a new service for sharing files. Eventually I found time to start testing the service to see if all their claims stack up and I’m happy to say that they do. This really is a simple and secure way to send large files so it is ideal when you have one or more files that are too large to send as an attachment to an email.

What makes this service so much better than others is that nobody needs to have an account, or even use the Firefox browser, to use Firefox Send. Apple, Google, Microsoft and many others could learn from this open approach. You will only need to have, or create a Firefox account, if you want to send files that are bigger than 1.0 GB in size. The file size limit for those that have an account is 2.5 GB and that is pretty big. Read More…

Take a look at this email.




Is it genuine or a fake? Read More…

Most of us save files, our data, onto computers we own, on systems in the cloud or both. Saving files is easy and most of the time it does not seem to cause problems.

Unfortunately, if you save files on one system and later on try to move, copy or send those files to a different system you can find yourself having all sorts of strange issues and failures. This is exactly what has happened to a friend of mine so I want to explain why it happens and give you some Golden Rules that will ensure you avoid these same errors. Read More…

We all make mistakes and one I made reminded me of how dangerous a service called UPnP can be and why you should make sure your router is not using it.

I purchased a new Wi-Fi IP telephone so I can use a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service around the home as well as anywhere with a wireless (Wi-Fi) service. My business number is a VoIP service and at the moment it works with a desk based IP telephone. It would be great not to have to keep running to the phone when I’m not sitting next to it. Hence the purchase of the wireless device.

I ran into a few problems trying to get the new phone to work with my telephone service and one of the suggestions was to make sure that the Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) service was turned on at my router. I don’t have this service turned on as it is a security risk but to see if it helped I turned it on and it made no difference. Then I made my mistake. I was so focussed on getting the new phone to work that I forgot to turn the UPnP service off. Oops… Read More…

Did you know that most offices, and many homes, have a grass in them?

No I don't mean the green stuff. I'm talking about 'grass' as in a snitch, informer or tell-tale. To make matters worse this snitch could have been there for 20 years or more and nobody knew. So as a matter of public service I am going to reveal to you their identity and how they pass their information on to others without your knowledge or permission. Read More…

When I went back to working from home I faced a problem that many home based businesses have to solve. I have a standard BT telephone line complete with my home number and a broadband service that uses the same line. I wanted to have a completely separate telephone number for my business so I could keep business calls away from my home number.

The obvious solution would be to have a second telephone line installed just for business use. This is what many people do but it has its drawbacks. You have to pay the line rental for a line that may not get a lot of use and the call charges are not very competitive. I had used the two line solution when I first started my business and I did not want to do it again so I looked for another way.

The solution I finally chose is the one I still use now. I have a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone that uses my Internet connection to make and receive calls. It works in a similar way to services like Skype, Google Hangouts, WhatsApp and many other proprietary solutions but with some big advantages over those systems. Read More…

I support sites that use Draytek Vigor routers and have quite a lot of them in service. These tend to be the business grade Vigor 2820 series and the sites use them for their good Virtual Private Network (VPN) support as they connect reliably and securely to various firewalls. The VPN's are all IPsec based and once correctly configured work well and generate very few problems.

One of my customers told me that they would be introducing a new Electronic Point of Sale (EPoS) system that would require a secure connection (VPN) between their shops and the head office. The EPoS supplier had recommended Draytek Vigor routers so I expected the job to be pretty straight forward.

I already had a base configuration that I knew worked so all I expected to do is to get the customers firewall correctly configured and then configure one router so I could show their IT staff how it all works. Well that was my plan but it has not turned out to be quite as easy as I had thought it would be. Read More…